Public Presentation of the book "Alfândega do Porto, 1869-2019"

On November 15th, as part of the International Forum of the Alfândega – "Tourism, the Leading Global Industry: Congress and Culture as Essential Factors," the launch session of the book "Alfândega do Porto, 1869-2019" took place. This publication commemorates the 150th anniversary of the institution and was developed by a team of researchers from CEPESE.

This research work, based on a wide range of printed and handwritten sources, sought to correct some information and interpret in an innovative way some aspects of the history of one of the most monumental and iconic buildings in the city of Porto, which has just celebrated 150 years in operation. To this end, the work is divided into three main chapters, the first of which presents and analyses the reasons that justified the need for a new customs building for Porto after the Liberal Revolution of 24 August 1820, and the various proposals for its location, financing and design. The second chapter looks at the process of building the New Customs House - including the building itself, but also the wharf and the railway line that served the Customs House. The third and final chapter focuses on the transformation of the Alfândega building, which was practically devoid of its original functions, into a Transport and Communications Museum and Congress Centre in the 1990s, looking at the intervention of architect Souto de Moura in the restoration and adaptation of the building and the main initiatives that have taken place in it over the last two decades, which have allowed the Alfândega to become a reference space in Portugal and the world.